• The Census Bureau estimates, the 2009 population of our expanded service area (excluding Bexar) is 288,478 residents with over 60% of the population living in the outlying underserved rural areas. Of this population, 39,714 are in poverty including 13,816 children under the age of 18. The Kendall County school districts alone have identified 1972 at-risk students in 2007-08 (TEA AEIS).

• More than 40% of our children’s families have to choose between paying for utilities or heating and food; 29% have to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food; 36% have to choose between paying for medical bills or food (source: SA Food Bank, Trinity University Study).

• On average, 14% of the total population remains in a state of generational or situational poverty; and as the population increases exponentially, the number of those in poverty also rises.

• In 2007, 13.3 million children – 18 percent of all children in this country – were living below the poverty line.  (according to the US Census Bureau, income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States:  2007, August 2008, p. 14.   http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf May 21, 2009)

• The face of childhood poverty is multiethnic.  In the United States, 34% of poor children are white, 32% are Hispanic, and 29% are black.  (according to National Center for Children In Poverty, “Poverty By the Numbers.” http://www.nccp.org/media/releases/release_34.html July 24, 2009)

• Nearly 12.5 million American children experienced food insecurity in 2007, meaning their households were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of all their members because of insufficient resources.  (According to United States Department of Agriculture, Economics Research Service, “Food Security in the United States:  Key Statistics and Graphic,” http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/stats_graphs.htm May 31, 2009.)

Most Americans, over 58%, will spend at least one year below the poverty line at some point between the ages of 25 and 75.  (according to “Poverty in the United States,” July 23, 2009)